Seeking Out the Wisdom of the Ancients: Essays Offered to Honor Michael V. Fox on the Occasion of His Sixty-Fifth Birthday.

• Author: Klingbeil, Gerald A.

Seeking Out the Wisdom of the Ancients: Essays Offered to Honor Michael V. Fox on the Occasion of His Sixty-Fifth Birthday. Edited by RONALD L. TROXEL, KELVIN G. FRIEBEL, and DENNIS R. MAGARY. Winona Lake, Indiana: EISENBRAUNS, 2005. Pp. xxviii + 507, portrait. $59.50.

This Festschrift for Michael V. Fox, Jay C. and Ruth Halls-Bascom Professor of Hebrew at the University of Wisconsin, brings together thirty essays written by former students, colleagues, and friends and is divided into two main sections, one focusing on the study of biblical texts (predominantly texts belonging to the genre of wisdom literature with the occasional foray into poetry and the book of Ezekiel) and the second dealing with textual and methodological issues. As is to be expected in a volume honoring an esteemed scholar, the editors have included a concise tribute to the honoree (pp. ix-xi). Furthermore, a useful overview and bibliography of the publications of Michael V. Fox has been prepared by Lawrence J. Mykytiuk (pp. xiii-xxiv). As is customary in Eisenbrauns publications, two indexes are included (authors and Scripture) and as always the publication quality of the volume is exemplary.

Fox completed his Ph.D. in 1972 at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, focusing on the Book of Qohelet and its relation to the wisdom school. From 1971 to 1977 some brief teaching stints at Haifa University, the University of the Negev, Hebrew University, as well as a postdoctoral fellowship in Egyptology at Liverpool University followed. Later he became part of the tenured teaching staff at the University of Wisconsin where he has since worked. Twice Fox served as chairperson of the Department of Hebrew and Semitic Studies (1982-87, 1993-99), and the list of leadership positions in professional societies and honors bestowed on him is extensive. As can be easily seen from the bibliography, his research interests have been broad, including Egyptian love poetry, biblical wisdom literature (Qohelet, Ecclesiastes, Proverbs, Job), the book of Esther, as well as text-critical issues, which are also reflected in the contributions to the present volume. Fox has served as the editor of Hebrew Studies (1982-93) as well as of the Society of Biblical Literature Dissertation Series (1994-99).

The influence of a single scholar is not easily gauged. Does it depend on the published output? Does it require the holding of a chair in a leading academic institution? Or does it involve the nurturing...